Alabama: GOP will not challenge Democratic candidate over non-vacancy issue

The Tuscaloosa News reports: State Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, said he isn’t going to challenge the candidacy of Democratic opponent Ann Skelton and neither will the state Republican Party. “If Gerald’s not, we’re not," said GOP Chairwoman Twinkle Andress Cavanaugh.

The Democratic Executive Committee nominated Skelton, who also lives in Cottondale, to run against Allen after Allen’s original opponent withdrew because he lived just outside state House District 62 and wasn’t legally qualified to run.

Allen and Cavanaugh had considered a challenge to Skelton’s nomination because they believed the Democratic Party couldn’t nominate a new candidate when there wasn’t a legal vacancy. Allen said a challenge would take too much money that could be used elsewhere. Besides, he said, a legal challenge might last beyond the Nov. 7 primary. Democrats disagreed that a replacement nominee couldn’t be chosen. -- DANA BEYERLE: Organizations shell out political endorsements - Tuscaloosa